I while back I painted my stock base wheels 04-06 with Duplicolor's Primer, Graphite color and Clear. Looked great. But chipped away after a while. Decided to fix the chips and change the color. I painted my truck's wheels satin black and it lasted wonderfully. So, I painted them black with no clear, FTW!! Chipped again! FAIL!!! Decided to paint them with a clear for more protection and a glossy look. Looked even better than the satin...and within a week super large chip marks. I've had enough. It was probably my prep work that resulted in the poor results, but never the less it won't happen again.

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried removing the paint successfully without ruining the factory paint underneath?

I've seen videos of people using paint stripper with great results; however, wouldn't that take the factory paint off?

Any advice please. Money's tight and I don't want to shell out for new wheels or wheel restoration.

 

Not sure, but that's why I haven't painted mine,

 

You don't need to take the factory paint off. You need good mechanical adhesion, and chemical adhesion. Spray paint is only durable to certain level, auto body paint is far superior in durability, powder coating is even more durable. If you want the best, get the wheels powder coated.

 

^what he said...

 

I just want to remove what I did and leave the factory paint. I notice in spots that chipped you could see the factory color or the primer, so it gave me hope if at all possible.

Ideas?

 

I did a lot of research through google and plenty of other people have made the same mistake as I. Everyone suggests stripping it to bare aluminum and powder coating it.

I am curious how bare aluminum would look? Anyone?

 

I'm sure they meant strip it to bare aluminum then powder coat it a color .. not clear over the aluminum.

Bare aluminum will look like bare aluminum for a short while the oxidize. And it will need to be polished to look like anything .. cheaper to powder coat a color .. eg .. stock silver.

 

Could the bare aluminum be clear coated to prevent the oxidation? And how would it look? I like the bright metallic look of machined wheels would it be similar?

 

No .. you will need to have them polished once stripped to look like that. Then cleared properly .. not from a rattle can.

 

Thanks